Two new peer-reviewed scientific studies have further confirmed the toxicity of glyphosate, the world's most commonly used herbicide. The June 2005 scientific journal "Environmental Health Perspectives" reports that glyphosate, sold by Monsanto under the brand name "Roundup," damages human placental cells at exposure levels ten times less than what the company claims is safe. A study in the August journal Ecological Applications found that even when applied at concentrations that are one-third of the maximum concentrations typically found in waterways, Roundup still killed up to 71 percent of tadpoles in the study. Similar glyphosate studies around the world have been equally alarming. The American Academy of Family Physicians epidemiological research has now linked exposure to the herbicide with increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a life-threatening cancer, while a Canadian study has linked glyphosate exposure with increased risk for miscarriage. A 2002 study linked glyphosate exposure with increased incidence of attention deficit disorder in children. Despite these studies, Monsanto continues to advertise Roundup, sprayed heavily on 140 million acres of genetically engineered crops across the world, as one of the "safest" pesticides on the market. Learn more & take action: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html

Everything you never wanted to know about RoundUp:Using RoundUp to kill Bermuda is a bad idea but so is leaving the Bermuda grass. It is the worst weed you can have in a bed. Plastic, both solid and the so-called weed-blocking kind, is also a bad idea because it doesn't work well and fouls up the most important part of the soil - the surface just under the mulch. That's where the temperature is ideal, minerals are available, life is transitioning back and forth between the mulch and the soil, etc. The best method is to remove the top 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches of soil and toss it in the compost pile. Then apply the compost and other organic amendments. Do not till the area first - that drives pieces of the stems (rhizomes and stolons) down into the ground allowing it to come back forever as a horrible weed.